Death, Taxes and Losses in San Antonio (Warriors 88, Spurs 95)

The Warriors will win again in San Antonio. It just may not be in our lifetime — or at least during Tim Duncan’s career.

To the shock of no one, the Warriors lost to the Spurs on the road. What was shocking, or at least pleasantly surprising, was how much of a fight the Curry-less and Bogut-less Warriors put up against a Spurs team that has been nothing short of dominant when playing on friendly ground. In a change from the usual plot lines, the Warriors didn’t get overpowered (losing the rebounding battle only 42-46), didn’t give the game away with stupid mistakes (9 turnovers to the Spurs’ 10) and didn’t hack their way into oblivion with a cheap imitation of defense (losing the free throw advantage only 14-20). Given how completely the Spurs have owned the Warriors over the past 15 years, the fact that these things didn’t occur marks a major development.

Unfortunately, despite these changes, the Spurs are still as patient and precise as ever. They wait for any mistake and exploit it. They pinpoint the softest spots of an opponent’s defense and jab at them relentlessly until they can break through. On Friday night, those spots tended to be Klay Thompson and David Lee. The Spurs repeatedly went at both players, and came away from the match-ups with some of their easiest baskets of the night for Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter. It’s not that the Warriors defense was bad — it was excellent for much of the game — but the Spurs provided a test of just how long the Warriors could hold their focus. There were countless plays where the Warriors managed to hold things together for 15 or 20 seconds, only to have the Spurs’ final pick, cut or skip pass doom them.

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On the other end, without Curry’s reliable shot, the Warriors struggled to find someone to keep them moving through the fourth quarter. Jack, Thompson and Lee all hit tough buckets to keep the team close, but also missed wide-open looks that could have helped them pull ahead. As the Spurs’ defense tightened up, the Warriors also looked more content to pull up from 18-20 feet. With Curry in the line-up, pulling the defense out to the perimeter, the Warriors might have found a few more lanes to the basket. As it was, the Spurs packed the lane and dared the Warriors to beat them from outside. The end result? 18 shots attempts for the Warriors in the fourth quarter; only 1 in the paint (a running lay-up by David Lee after the game had slipped out of the team’s grasp); and 0 free throws. Given that shot selection, the only surprise about this game is that the Warriors were able to make it as close as they did.

Individually, the Warriors were a mixed bunch:

Klay Thompson continues to look lost, and his body language is devolving as he becomes more frustrated. Turnovers, silly mistakes (a lane violation from behind the three-point arc) and wacky shot selection (double clutching when open; heaving when covered) marred what superficially looks like a decent stat line. Thompson did make an attempt to drive to the rim, but those few efforts early in the game were wildly off the mark. By the fourth quarter, he had abandoned it in favor of jumper after jumper. In a change, Jackson seemed to be searching for an alternative to Thompson — giving Kent Bazemore an extended 5 minute run in Thompson’s place bridging the first and second quarters — but didn’t get enough in return to justify much further experimentation in the second half. The Warriors desperately need offensive contributions to pick up the slack in Curry’s absence, but they can’t count on getting it night-in/night-out from Thompson.

Jarrett Jack still appears to be nursing an elbow injury — he was grimacing after taking a shot to it — but he’s been rising to the occasion in Curry’s absence. His fourth quarter shooting helped pull the Warriors back into the game against the Spurs. His command of the floor has been excellent, and he continues to show very good judgment about when the feed others or call his own number. All that said, he wasn’t a closer when the Warriors needed one. That’s a lot to ask, given that he’s logging heavier minutes than he’s used to given his reserve role. But the Warriors needed someone — anyone — to show some consistent assertiveness when the game was on the line in the final eight minutes. Jack is the leading contender to be that player while Curry is out, but he didn’t have enough left on Friday after playing 23 of the second half’s 24 minutes.

This was a throwback game for David Lee. He would make a nice offensive play on one end, then give the points right back at the other end of the court. The Spurs’ offensive game plan seemed particularly attuned to his lack of spacial awareness on defense, repeatedly slipping guys behind him for easy runs at the basket. He didn’t have a bad game, and he was as good as any Warrior in the fourth quarter, but as the opponents have gotten tougher in January, Lee’s defensive shortcomings have been brought back to the forefront. In a potential playoff match-up against the Spurs, I have nightmares about what Popovich would do given four or more consecutive games to pick him apart.

Draymond Green’s jump shot finally seems to be settling into place. He hit two of them on Friday, and both looked clean coming out of his hands. Given his work ethic, I had no doubt he’d be logging the gym hours to improve, but it’s nice to see some nearly-immediate returns. As he’s received more minutes in Curry’s absence, he also seems to be forcing fewer shots. One of his jumpers was on a pretty play where he caught the ball behind the arc, faked a defender, dribbled in to 16-17 feet and drained the baseline jumper. A month ago, Green would have either immediately launched the shot from three point territory, fearing that he’d not get another look if he didn’t seize this one, or never considered a shot at all and looked for the next person to receive the ball. As the game has slowed down for Green, he’s making better decisions with the ball in his hands and generally looking more confident.

Harrison Barnes went 32 minutes before logging his first basket of the game. So long as Curry is out, the Warriors need Barnes to be assertive on offense. He hasn’t been able to build any sort of rhythm since the Denver game last weekend, and continues to defer to his teammates. Given that Barnes can score in many ways they can’t — like driving to the basket — it’s time for him to start making his presence felt every time down the court. When he’s been able to get going early and log consistent minutes throughout the game, Barnes has been a key contributor to the Warriors’ offense. The challenge for the team remains finding him the early touches. Despite the offensive struggles, Barnes played 38 minutes because he was doing a tremendous job defensively and on the glass. On draft day, I never would have guessed Barnes’ biggest and most consistent contributions to the team have been on the defensive rather than offensive end.

Carl Landry once again delivered a clutch veteran performance. The Warriors wouldn’t have been close without his first half offense. Still, Landry was on the court when everything fell apart in the late third quarter. Part of the reason the Spurs were able to cut into the lead so quickly was that the Warriors were focusing on face-up eighteen footers rather than working the ball patiently into the post for Landry to operate. When he’s given any daylight in the paint, he’s usually able to convert. Without Curry’s scoring punch, Landry in the paint may be the team’s most reliable offensive option — when they actually call it and run it.

While the Warriors are now nursing their first three game losing streak of the season, I don’t think the usual pessimism that haunts this team every January is warranted. The Denver, Miami and San Antonio games are all ones that the Warriors should have lost. The Warriors are playing superior opponents — and often highly motivated, as with the Nuggets and the Heat. The real test of where this team is mentally should come tomorrow in New Orleans. The Hornets are dramatically improved, but should be a winnable match-up for even the Curry-less Warriors. The Warriors will be on a back-to-back, but should have something to prove given the unpleasantness of the current losing streak. Losses like this one are neither cause for alarm nor meaningless schedule-filler to be ignored. They’re tests of where the Warriors shake out in the Western Conference hierarchy. We learned Friday that they still fall somewhere beneath the Spurs in the pecking order, but they’re closing the distance.

Adam Lauridsen

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Your write ups are wonderful but I’m going to nitpick this one, just a bit.

Bazemore, who entered slightly before Jenkins, DID give every reason for more minutes in the second half. He did not take a shot, but played smart, with great energy, defending high pNr effectively and recovering for the rebound 18 feet away. Moved the ball. Protected the lead. What more to ask?

You don’t even mention Ezeli or Biedrins. The Warriors are blown out in this game without them. C’mon, now.

Jackson either. I wonder if he second guesses himself, ever, in the post-game presser—he should have tonight. If Biedrins is incapable of playing in the second half, will we ever be let in on the secret?

When Ezeli is having an obvious impact game, nail his butt to the bench? Again?

At least you got the Klay effect right. (Yes, he had a couple good plays)

You can parcel out the Splitter night to both Lee/Landry.

Klay hit a few spot-ups, missed everthing else—whoop te doo. Every Spur abused him on the other end, if he wasn’t messing up by himself.

Losing games by less than ten where the game is tight is not the problem. Losing games by playing right into the opponents strengths and sitting your most effective players, whomever they might be, is a problem.

bryhsiao

Dr John,
yes, I am also very disappointed on Klay’s defense and Jack not using Bazemore more.

It’s one thing that he got burnt by Parker who is damn good at maneuvering in the paint and changing gears but it’s another completely different thing that Klay overhelped so much that he left Neal & Green wide open the whole game.

Like you said, I am very interested to know what MJackson ‘s game plan in the 4th was.

Duncan was bothered by Ezeli in the 3rd where Ezeli’s hand was always up there challenging the shot. And Ezeli was so active on the offensive boards that Duncan got visibly frustrated.

And Splitter had his way in the paint against Landry&Lee who could not even get their hands up enough to disrupt Splitter a bit.

It’s fine if we kept letting Lee+Landry go at Spurs big inside and get them into foul trouble.

However, the fourth qtr were all jumpers from Lee+Landry and no rebounds. Landry only got 1 FT.

Lee could not box out Splitter even before he rolled his ankle.
And Splitter like many other recent teams had read Landry’s scouting report to a tee that he defended Landry so well that Landry had to go further and further away from the basket.

Lee had 6 rebounds 5fouls in 38mins, Landry 4 rebounds 4 fouls in almost 30mins.
They just could not stop Splitter/Duncan do whatever they want.

Like Dr John said, we kept losing grounds on the big men match ups especially on defense and MJack did not get back to what worked.

I thought MJack loved the versatility of this team so much but he did not seem to use them much even when they played so well.

NCDub

No Klay again–it’s time to sit him, move Barnes over & start Green or Jefferson. Can it be any worse than this? Bazemore & a bit more Jenkins to b/u Jack. Also is FE hurt? Guessing it’ll be the same old same same tonight though .

rigged

Are we watching the same game?

Campath

In a war or a game, predictability is usually fatal. MJack’s rotation is so predictable….how many times in watching a game, you think here we go again?! Guess MJack is like Klay…still learning!

Zume

Broken record here. Not enough big play and we need to play more players. Very frustrating and disappointing. A game we could have one with better coaching – what happened to the importance of defense?

Defensive minded players need to get more minutes for defensive effort, energy and stops.

If Klay doesn’t play defense and gets the minutes, carte blanche, then why should I try.

Bench Klay before its too late. Bench him for bad defense, make him earn it on defense. Same with Lee, imo.

knick

Very accurate analysis Adam.
Unfortunately this is another game we have to quickly forget and move on. Very laughable to think Ezeli or Biedrens could have stopped Duncun. They got schooled in the paint just like lee and Landry and neither Jenkins nor Bazemore showed anything to warrant any more than the six minutes they got.

Packing the paint wouldn’t have helped against Parker either…Pop actually went small for stretches so one can’t blame small ball either. In a way, the warriors are similar to the spurs, with inferior talents of course. I got the feeling the ever gracious Popovich played to our level and pulled away when they needed to.

Tonight’s game would certainly be a good barometer of where the team is. Go Dubs.

Hopefully we can win tonight’s game and get some separation from Denver and the chasing pack. GO DUBS.

…scotch

sartre, I’m sure you noticed in that SI article you posted (at end of the last thread) they said Jack signed a “…four year $20 million contract last summer as a unrestricted free agent??

Even going on to say”…the length of Jack’s deal helps lock him in with Curry, Thompson and rookie Harrison Barnes as a very good perimeter unit for years to come.”

Wonder if Lacob know’s this or if the FO is holding out on us again? ;o)

gary

Great writeup, Adam, and comments above.

When SCurry returns, time for MJax to sit Klay, start Jack & Curry, and rotate in Bazemore and Klay. This is so obvious.

Center? Just give more minutes to FE and AB. Also very obvious.

Agree with comments above about HB. Where’s he offense?

SFWardog

I would of liked to have seen Bazemore on Parker. Bazemore can chase and keep up. Overall, this was a great game to watch. We missed 3 buckets in the end which lost to for us. We hung around..love it.

Oops I didn’t realize that Sarte had posted the article on last thread. I was surprised re the jj 4 year deal too. I thought it was a 1 year deal.

believewhat

It is frustrating to lose. Still, have to remember we are not good enough to win against some teams with Bogut+Rush out( I didn’t think dubs will miss Rush but dubs are missing Rush against teams like this). Look at the schedule below. For me, the frustration is if we lose the games below those I marked as ‘W’ starting with Hornets game today. I am afraid but I think coach will be the difference for this young team.

I didn’t see much of the first half but I thought the Curry and Bogut- less Warriors played a terrific game in the second half. I couldn’t have asked for a better effort from the players or coaches in this one. A few jump shots go down in Q4 and we win the game. I thought our defense in particular was great. San Antonio is going to score once in awhile, ya know?

SA played a different style of d on Barnes last night and he had real trouble adjusting but it should be a good learning experience for him. They just had his man right in his face extending out on the perimeter giving no room to move even without the ball. They can’t afford to do that with Curry in there bc they have to give some spacing help. But it worked with Curry out. They needed to run some screens for Barnes.

believewhat

Our Team,

I think CNNSI’s author got it wrong with the contract.

The Tourist

Mark Jackson’s handling of Ezeli and Biedrins makes me wonder how he’ll deal with Bogut. Ezeli did pick some early fouls but when he was on the floor it was a completely different Warriors team. He misses one (contested) hook shot and right on queue Jackson benches him…

As for Barnes being MIA, part of the reason was how the Spurs played him, that is, kept him off the ball. Pop is a genius and Barnes is young, with no teammate support since the offense was running 99% of the time through Lee or Klay.

Yeah, the length of JJ’s contract in the SI article was wrong. It was otherwise an interesting read.

Losing to the Spurs is no shame. The team deserved praise for competing hard over long stretches on defense and putting themselves in a position to potentially win the game. MJ for a stretch in the first half shook off the rote by widening the rotation to include Bazemore and playing the bench mob for an extended stretch. The unit did well and I thought that in this game MJ for sure would return to it and keep the starters fresher than normal to help give their best on the night and the next day. Sadly, despite Ezeli’s and Beans’ 5-man units matching up best to the Spurs, MJ mainly reverted to rote as the game progressed. Seeing the Dubs for much of the 4th quarter settle for long jump shots, miss a ton, not get one offensive rebound, and have little answer defensively to the length of Splitter and Duncan was maddeningly. And hopes of the starters being kept fresh evaporated with all but Ezeli playing 37+ minutes.

strummer

agree with OT.
game is tied at 82 and the Ws go 1 of 7 until Lee ends the skid with a shot inside against tall trees tiago and tim. they end up going 3 of 10 to end the game, while SA pours it on with mostly jumpers from the outside.
boils down to they made their long range shots, warriors didn’t.
length, in the end, didn’t factor into it.

bryhsiao

Our Team,
You think our defense was good in the second half?

I actually felt differently when I watched it.

If it was not Spurs wing players missing wide open jumpers over and over, we would have gotten blown out easily.

Also Jack’s hot night helped to keep us in the game.

But our interior defense was down right bad with Lee&Landry.

It’s okay in my book that Duncan does whatever he does against us but letting Splitter walk right into the paint deep underneath the basket was a huge mistake because once he was that deep, our length/athleticism challenged Lee/Landry could not even bother him at all on making high% shots in 2 feet away from the basket.

Pop is a genius at getting his bigs to the open spots and close to the basket.
MJack did not adjust again that their bigs kept just going/slipping down to the basket behind Lee&Landry and punished them while Lee&Landry had to post up 1 step inside the arc.

Watching Lee&Landry get pushed further and further away from the basket was painful. It’s not their fault because that’s not their game especially Landry.

Pop uses an array of screens/P&R to get his bigs into the paint wide open for the entry pass so that they can just do a decisive move for that score.

on the other hand, what we have is clearing one side and letting Landry/Lee to go 1on1 and hope their jumpers fall to stand a chance where no one was able to go for the rebound except AB/Ezeli’ pure hustle and athleticism.
Because 1on1 is very predictable and other 4 opponents would box out their own man especially they are Spurs.

imo, it was the perfect game to steal one from Spurs when their wide open jumpers were not falling. Matt Bonner, the best 3pt shooter in the league missing wide open 3?

Using Lee and Landry more at PF when we supplement them with Ezeli/AB had showed us dividends on providing the help behind them.

Lee+Landry for long stretches while completely ignoring defense and rebounding was a bad bad move.
Especially after Lee rolled his ankle, we still played him 38 mins and alot of PT with Landry even after Ezeli and AB impacted the game with pure hustle and energy.

Didn’t MJack know there is a game this AFTERNOON where we would also need Lee to play quite a bit?

I enjoyed Bazemore’s minutes and his length and athleticism jumped out right away. I really would try him on Parker since I think he had better chance to block Parker’s underhand layup than Klay with better defensive instincts and upper echelon athleticism.

I am glad that we “competed” but all jumpers in the end and 0 FTs –> fatigue and playing into Spurs game plan.

Spurs just kept doing what they were doing and let us shoot ourselves out of the game because none of our bigs can get into the paint like they do.

Splitter is not a bruiser who will overpower you that Lee/Landry should be able to cover him but they failed the whole night while MJack did not provide the help for them and keep asking them to go 1on1 1step inside the arc.

IMO, MJack&Staff need to watch how Spurs played over and over and learn how to get their bigs closer to the paint.
It’s so pretty and effortless.

Our Team

I didn’t see Bazemore last night but I saw him the prior game. It’s fun to watch someone so raw in terms of bball skills and knowledge, but he can still compete just relying on his raw athletic ability and length. Like Dr J said after the last game, the thing that will be interesting to follow with Bazemore is his court vision and ability to share the ball.

thewarriorsrule

what another stupid loss that could have been won with the right substitution patterns. i’m tired of hearing “oh just because they are the better team, we should have lost”. if we are truly a good team, then we would sneak in a few wins here and there (like when we beat the clippers in la).

did anyone else notice the “great” lineup we had when the score was stuck at 28-21? we had jenkins, bazemore, green, landry, and ezeli in the game, sure it wasn’t the “gaudy” lineup that jackson wanted, but you know what, it got the job done! sure we couldn’t score, but you know what, it’s about score management, and you’re maintaining a 7 pt lead. the next thing we knew, at the 7 or 8 min mark, instead of leaking in some starters back in, jackson takes out that whole defensive crew, and puts in his all offensive crew (jack, thompson, barnes, lee, and landry) who were clearly not benefiting the team and our lead is lost going into halftime.

i would have also liked to see the jenkins, bazemore, green, landry, and ezeli combo at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th qtr. there is no excuse only giving jenkins 5 mins and jack 43 mins when curry is out with injury.

against big opponents (esp against a combo of splitter and duncan), either ezeli or biedrins have to be in the game. Period. this lee+landry combo is pitiful and worthless. we got jack and landry for a reason – to give curry and lee rest. and yet we still play these guys major minutes.

i hate jackson and fear the warriors will never fire him and let malone step up. i also hate thompson. his body language is the most pathetic thing ever. shakes his head and laughs when he loses the ball off his leg at the end of the 2nd qtr, is in disbelief when he clearly commits a foul, he needs a good yelling.

barnes needs to shoot more and get more involved in the offense, no it is not his fault. it’s the coaching’s fault.

all jumpshots in the 4th qtr and the plays we ran were also bad. this is seriously bad coaching folks, and we all know we deserve better. we have many weapons on our team, even though curry is out. don’t “fall in love” with the current record we have, because those were all teams we were SUPPOSED to beat so far.

thewarriorsrule

and oh putting thompson on parker was the stupidest thing by jackson. i think jack on parker and thompson on danny green would have been better.

we lost all 3 qtrs after we were up by 7 in the first.
Diaw and Duncan and Splitter were all flying passes everywhere after they get to the positions they wanted.
Neal missed a lot of open shots. K. Leonard could not buy one in the corner.

IMO, we need to get back to unselfish passing and moving the ball around more. and sat Klay when he is rushing shots so we can keep moving the ball around.

strummer

i wonder what Klay would fetch in trade?

Steve La Porta

it was a commendable effort by the warriors last night, though, it felt like they missed a lot of opportunities in the first quarter to pull out to a greater lead.

klay is getting difficult to watch — even when he has short spurts of success like he did yesterday. i’m pulling for the guy, but, i’m starting to see aspects of his game and presence that remind me of what i didn’t enjoy watching when i saw him play at washington state. is the potential upside worth the downside?

regarding bazemore, strongly have to disagree with adam on his comment. after a strong previous game and a six-minute stint in which he went high over everyone for four defensive rebounds and didn’t make any mistakes, he deserved playing time in the second half — especially with parker breaking down klay time after time.

anyone know why is ab getting so little playing time? seems like he played well the past few weeks when he’s gotten opportunities, but, his minutes are dropping.

bryhsiao

Strummer, how do you think those jump shots were generated ?
their players moved freely into the paint and our wings have to help and sucked into the paint while Diaw/Duncan/Splitter all kept the ball moving around while we went scrambling.

We lost every qtr since Splitter dominated us in the second qtr.

Lots of Spurs shots were very good shots off of passes while lots of our shots were relying on heaves from Thompson and incredibly accurate Jack 1on1 last night. And we resorted to see jumpers from Landry outside his normal range when we should have him get into position downlow to score or get to FT.

1FT the whole night. 4 rebs. out of 30mins.

strummer

Osteitis Pubis?

strummer

disagree bry. i saw the guards in Q4 move the ball around the perimeter or simply move with the ball themselves for what turned into jump shots. going inside had nothing to do with it at that time in the game.

thewarriorsrule

yea bazemore was skying for rebounds, and moves the ball well (a lot better than i expected), and sometimes it’s not just always about “offense”. how about moving the ball well to get a good high % shot?

it’s terrible watching thompson “heave” shot after shot (and then miss a wide open 3). the team select did not improve his defense. it just gave him false confidence that he can shoot all he wants without getting leashed.

bazemore on parker would have been nice to see as well.

since thompson likes to shoot so much, why not start bazemore at sg (a la sefolosha, and all those other good teams with a defensive minded 2) when curry comes back, and let thompson come off the bench as the 6th man and he can get all the shots he wants when ezeli and green (offensively challenged players) are in the game?

at all times, i would like to see a pg at pg, sg at sg, c at c, etc. please no more of this klay at sf, curry at sg, landry at c, etc bullcrap.

thewarriorsrule

strummer, post 25.

yes SA had jumpshots too, but they were GOOD jumpshots, ie. they moved the ball well and got a high % shot

not like thompson heaving a desperation shot when he is covered. or not working the ball into landry deeper into the post.

Our Team

We held the Spurs to 17 Q4 points and Splitter had 0 in Q4, 5 in Q3. Of the Spurs 17 Q4 points, Duncan had 8 and Parker 6. I don’t recall a single Q4 point the Spurs scored was because we didn’t have a big in the game. Duncan is going to get those points; he was making moves and hitting his shots including some mid-range shots. Parker hit some very tough shots in Q4 last night. Again, the Spurs only scored 17 points in Q4 and we were right in a game against a team with superior talent and experience. Parker and Duncan won the game for them but it wasn’t bc they had inside dominance imo; they didn’t.

We were hurt inside a bit in Q3 where Splitter got 5 points I think and the Spurs scored 32. But even then, Ezeli followed by Biedrins played nearly 8 minutes of Q3 so how do you say the small ball lineup helped cost us the game. I thought we battled pretty well on D. As Adam says, the experienced Spurs were very patient with their offense moving the ball in, then dishing it off after we committed to the man with the ball. It’s offense at its efficient best.

The Ws were hustling on D last night, mostly making the right switches and reads, staying down and moving their feet pretty well. Lee and Landry had a few, as usual, where they lost track of their man but both were better than average on D I thought and both played very well on O so why wouldn’t you have them in the lineup in Q4? You needed them in there last night. It was a very well coached game imo.

strummer

i remember a desperation heave by Parker in the corner that was a backbreaker, actually…

Our Team

I agree that it’s tough to watch Thompson these days but part of it is that he’s going through a sophomore slump and the other part is that there’s not a good alternative right now. He seems to go into brainfreeze mode very quickly and not come out. Thompson will eventually pull out of his slump and play better. I still think he can be a good complement to Curry and Barnes out there, with Barnes as the athletic slasher to the basket. Barnes just needs another year to develop that part of his game.

Our Team

Yeah, the Parker shot going out of bounds over 2 defenders and then Green hit the three, which was open, but you can’t guard everything.

strummer

exactly as i saw it OT. gotta wonder why others are trying to paint it as something else…or is it as nbf often says, they have to make it fit their usual narrative, even when it doesn’t compute?
strange brew … if you don’t watch out it’ll stick to you (apologies to felix pappalardi)

i like this team. thompson is still learning pro ball as i see it and will find his way eventually. bazemore intrigues and would love for his time out there to be a bit more consistent, a la jenkins last year, and barnes needs to attack a bit more. nice nice ‘assets’ accumulated on the team.
Curry, Rush, Bogut out? wait ’till next year, and let’s not be rash during this harder part of the schedule.

strummer

i like your suggestion thewarriorsrule, re starting Bazemore when curry comes back and bringing klay off the bench for instant O.
also whoever suggested last thread of keeping Jack coming in off the bench (albeit with more minutes than ususal) while curry is out and starting jenkins instead…i could go with that idea too.
as we approach trade deadline, are the warriors still rumored to in talks with anyone?

bryhsiao

Our team, you are right that Splitter and Duncan did not do alot of damage in the second half in scoring category. But we could not get stops and secure the rebounds since the 2nd qtr.

We also pack it in to prevent Duncan&Splitter go off like in the second qtr and that made Spurs have easier time swinging the ball around.

Youself said it the best
“As Adam says, the experienced Spurs were very patient with their offense moving the ball in, then dishing it off after we committed to the man with the ball”

Splitter/Duncan/Diaw just moved to the right spot and were the threat to score easy buckets while working the ball to the open man.

They did not pound the ball inside but their moving in and out of the paint without the ball freely collapsed our defense and caused us scrambling.

Re your Lee+Landry
“both played very well on O so why wouldn’t you have them in the lineup in Q4?”

Lee played very well last night next to Ezeli/AB and same thing with Landry.
Why do you have to play both together when you gave up the rebounding and blocking and inside presence?

If Ezeli/AB stayed in the paint, they can help out on Parker’s penetration too. AB even blocked Parker’s layup after Parker beat Klay off the dribble.

Not saying to play Ezeli/AB alot more but some in second qtr meltdown and to slow down Splitter would really help and some in early 4th may also help.

Alternating Lee & Landry on iso 1 step inside the arc is not the way to utilize both on the court imo.
They are more a threat in motion. Lee off P&R into the paint and make quick decisions. Landry roam around the paint waiting for a dishoff from JJack or get deep position after a screen sounds SO much better than giving them the ball iso clear the side.

If we want to iso them, someone like Ezeli/AB should be on the court to go for that offensive rebound or tip out.

Like others said here, we signed JJack and Landry to help Curry & Lee.
not to play all 4 at the same time for 30+mins together.

bryhsiao

btw
Our team
“But even then, Ezeli followed by Biedrins played nearly 8 minutes of Q3 so how do you say the small ball lineup helped cost us the game”

You obviously did not watch the second qtr?

Fantom

I am disappointed by the tone on the blog today and glad MJ is maintaining a more positive response to what we knew would be a very rough period. Given the absence of Curry- which makes the Rush absence more pronounced than up to now- its nto surprising that we wouldn’t move the ball as well but it’s a lot better than the last game. We criticize the coach for keeping everything the same and also for making changes and trying something new like Thompson on Parker. Jack is somewhat injured and needs to play a lot of minutes so not giving him the defense fo parker is good- I might have even tried Barnes on Parker- they both have the long arms that can bother Parker. I did like that they played Bazemore but see that as a positive, not a negative that they didn’t play him more- I hope we see him more tonight. Sometimes Rookies need to sit and consolidate their success- it’s a subtle point but real. I do wish they would stay with Ezeli more. It’s hard against a good defense to put a player out there that can be ignored and every time Ezeli tries to shoot its awkward at best. I think this will change but hasn’t yet. I imagine they are seeing success in practice and it needs to translate. Klay is making too many mistakes- some of them stupid and infuriating ( to himself as well) but he does care about that and at least some of his turnovers are from trying NOT to shoot threes all the time, and so this change is a step forward, which will bear fruit.

Slimman

Can we have Jack for 4 years at $20mil? That would work out nicely. As it is, they are going to have to pay to keep him in the off-season, and I hope they do, as he is an important member of the team.

I’m of the opinion that Landry, as much as I like scoring in the low post, can be replaced pretty easily. They tried for JJ Hickson for example, before Portland snatched him out from under. I like Carl’s play, but I think it is overrated here on the blog. He was dominant early in the season and plays a middling game lately.

This team will mostly be here next year. Even with injuries to Curry and Bogut missing the playoffs would be an utter failure. The next month is brutal; I hope the string of losses don’t break their spirit to fight their way into the postseason as March winds down. Hopefully, they make the post-season and make some noise.

As far as next season, they need to re-sign Jack in the off-season, upgrade Landry, monitor Rush (and sadly, may have to upgrade him too), and move RJ and Beans for an impact player. I’m not even mentioning Bogut in hopes that he just recovers and is fine. I still like the make-up of this team, but if you take away three of their best 6 players they start to look not as deep as we thought. The only team that I think could handle that would be the Spurs because of the great scheme they have been running for so long. Still, injuries or not, no excuses.

dr_john

I think the narrative is being rewritten by guys like strummer. When Lee/Landry have a nice +/- you sure hear about it, but when it’s Ezeli or Beans they hole up for a while.

Look, Parker and Splitter didn’t even play the first half of the 4th quarter, but when they came in the game was decided. Lee and Landry did not hold their own in that quarter, the Warriors were almost exclusively taking outside shots and not one offensive rebound (the Spurs vulnerability).

Except for the Green shot, the entire 4th was about Duncan and Parker. Duncan hit the first 2 buckets, Splitter comes in and Duncan hits the next 3, but had one wiped on a shot clock violation. Not one minute for Ezeli? Not one?

Where are the “the score moved the right way” guys today?

Guys?

Slimman

Fantom, I like your attitude. The only thing I wish I would see more of out of Coach is Ezeli and Biedrins. Both are players who’s games are incomplete, but they are active, big bodies on defense who rebound the basketball. They change the game in ways the box score doesn’t represent either, by making shots and possession on the baseline more difficult for opponents.

Coach trying new things, like minutes for Bazemore, or Thompson on Parker, is encouraging. He probably thinks Klay can play through it. I hope he’s right.

strummer

what are you talking about dr_john? i’m not a +/- guy, nor much of a stat one for that matter, but prefer to use my eyes with what happens/happened on the court. which is why i find what bry says puzzling. no one was collapsing in the 4th to my recollection. people were sticking to their man. both teams took outside shots in the 4th. one made ’em more than the other. pretty simple stuff…

Ewok

The Warriors mindset should be on breaking the will of the opponent.

It’s not much on how you outscore your opponent. We can always do that every night and still lose. That’s Nelie ball. It’s how you break the will of your opponent and that means playing tougher defense to create a momentum.

Secondly, I have to wonder about Mark Jackson. Again i think he is good coach… But at this point where you have to deal with big teams without your top gunners in Curry, Bogut and Rush, Coach Jackson should realize he should gamble and gamble hard to create a new fascia, a new feature for the team. The mark of a good coach is how you develop players from mediocre to good, from good to great…. and this bench is one of the best in the league right now… If not the very best.

Jackson has to gamble on the following players, Bazemore, RJ, Green, JTyler and Jenkins.. by giving them more minutes, designing more plays for them, giving them more roles… By doing so, you create surprises, you deny the opponent of what it prepares and expects from you, and you create a much more confident and efficient bench, and you give your new players a chance to prove themselves..

In the process, The Warriors become multi-dimensional and deadly.

If this team adopts the philosophy as a no-excuse team. There is no excuse for Coach Mark Jackson not to have faith in his bench.

dr_john

As soon as, and I mean immediately, Ezeli and the bench guys were pulled in the second quarter Splitter Parker knock 6 points off the lead.

So the starters add a couple points in the first half of the third and as soon as, and I mean immediately, Landry enters for Ezeli (never to return) the Spurs run off a 16-4.

Fantom: I don’t agree about tone today. Even the posts last night last thread you’d see even-handed comments and yes, disappointment with the loss and questions about rotations.

The first quarter substitutions made sense—-and worked—and were forgotten the last 18 minutes of the game.

Thompson was uneven (charitably) and at some point you wonder why the Warriors two best defenders did not get one minute in the fourth quarter against the two guys the defended well.

Tonight it seems to me Thompson will get eaten alive by either/both Eric Gordon/Greivis Vasquez. I hope not. But I do look forward to a few minutes of Bazemore on Vasquez—my private pleasure. It could be fun.

NO is 8-4 in the last 12, 7-3 with Gordon, Aminu has been hot. Robin Lopez will be a Splitter-like problem with Davis at the rim.

Should be a good game and I hope the Warriors are sharp from the start like last night.

somethingerrather

A close game that shouldn’t have been.

How in the world did Jackson not stop the final minutes for a timeout, though?!?!?! He has a group of clearly inexperienced guys going up against the Spurs in a close game. Where is the pull-back for a timeout to take a minute and figure things out. I don’t buy into this strategy he has of letting the guys play it out. In certain situations and parts of the game this may be fine. However, in a tight game against the Spurs in their house, a regrouping is essential to have the guys be on the same page. We looked clueless in the final minutes, and the veteran Spurs easily knew to close out on us. We desperately needed a timeout.

Highly unimpressed with Jackson. What worries me is that I think he is already being treated like Curry was before this year – completely protected regardless of performance/risk.

Also, anyone else tired of listening to his repetitive postgame drivel he says after every game?!

Slimman

Good points Ewok. If Jackson could get more creative with his main guys out and squeeze more worth than the sum of their parts from his bench, it will only make the team that much more confident and hard to defend when Curry (and hopefully Bogut) do eventually come back.

I want to see a lot more Barnes. I want to see a little more Bazemore. I want to see a lot more Ezeli/Biedrins. Is that so wrong?

New Orleans is not the same team that started the season, they have improved a lot. Adding Eric Gordon will do that, and now they now that Vasquez is capable of more than anyone thought he was. The Hornets are also big and long inside. This will not be an easy game.